The Internet provides almost unlimited information to computer, tablet, and phone users having access thereto, but one needs an efficient search tool to retrieve, organize, and present the retrieved information in a form that is useful to the searcher. Various search engines have been created using different approaches and algorithms to obtain and organize data, as well as to present advertisements related to the subject of the search. Thus, an entire industry has grown up around these various search engines.
One of the earliest successful search engines was Netscape, which would scour the Internet for items of interest using key words. Netscape included algorithms to rank and display the results according to their relatedness to the search term.
Google, Inc. later produced another more successful search engine. As with Netscape, Google would search for key words using algorithms that would help to retrieve and rank the results of a search based upon a keyword or phrase entered into the search window. Google uses algorithms that rank the results in various ways, including according to the number of times the key words appear in the item or website retrieved, including in the metadata and links to and from other websites. This makes Google susceptible of manipulation by those who are knowledgeable about the algorithms used by Google to rank and display information retrieved in a search. Further, Google introduced the ability to display ads alongside or above search results by advertisers who paid for such display by purchasing Google “ad words,” so that every time a search term is entered by a user, the advertisement or announcement would appear alongside or above the search results, and the advertiser's account would be charged accordingly for the advertisement. The price of ad words fluctuates according to their popularity, so that a very popular search term (meaning a frequently used search term) would cost considerably more than a less popular or frequently used search term. Google has developed algorithms to price ad words based on popularity.
Facebook has launched the well-known social media website, where a user can create a Facebook page that includes photos, comments, links, and the like posted on the subscriber's individual site. The website gives subscribers the opportunity to connect with other subscribers, by connecting with or “friending” them, allowing them to send messages, post messages, photos, or the like on one another's Facebook page. Facebook has also announced that it will be launching a search engine using Facebook, but its exact mechanism of operation and differences from the existing search engines remains unclear.
In addition, Google has launched a social media site, similar in some ways to Facebook, discussed below, but it is unclear at this juncture how widely used that site is, or whether and how it ties into the basic Google search engine, and how Google offers this site to its advertisers. Google is mainly based on the page, in that the search results it displays are pages from other sites, such as an article from a newspaper or an entry on Wikipedia, the well-known online encyclopedia whose entries are donated by users.
Twitter presents another recent social media mode of communication over the Internet, which allows users and subscribers to “tweet” messages to “followers” who have signed up to receive the messages tweeted by a particular individual. These messages may range from a few words to links to rather lengthy “blogs” or comments about a particular event or item of interest to the “tweeter” or the “follower.” These messages for the most part do not seem to be retrieved by existing search engines, even though they have become frequently used by many individuals including celebrities, actors, politicians, newscasters, reporters, and others. Twitter also gets used by various businesses to make product announcements and special offers to customers who have signed up to receive such information.
There remains a need for a search engine that can search more traditional items such as newspapers, magazines, and Internet websites, as well as social websites and tweets, comments, and other user generated messages, and organize them in a way that presents the information so retrieved or located in an easy to use, organized, and user friendly fashion. There also remains a need for a search engine that can analyze and measure response instantaneously, and give reports on activity relating to a particular item or person of interest, including social demographics and other distinguishable characteristics. Such information would allow sponsors to follow particular groups and would also allow advertisers to pick particular topics or search results to advertise alongside. Further, such information would allow pollsters and other types of analysts to measure public reaction to events of political importance.